Author: Grey Forge LeFey
Goodbye to the Dream in the Woods
When I started looking at the future a couple years ago, contemplating major changes was stupefying. One of the decisions I needed to make was about my home. I loved my patch of woods in the Ohio country with its 1860s log cabin. I had dreamed of retiring to just such a place some day, and when the opportunity came to own it while I was still relatively young (49ish), it seemed too good to be true. And it was the one place after years of looking at properties that Sheri wanted even more than I did. It was very rustic with its original stone cellar and rough hewn timbers, and it needed a lot of work. But part of my dream was to spend the rest of my life making it exactly the fairy-tale home I envisioned.
But after the trials of the ensuing 8 years, I no longer had the vitality to rebuild that cabin or sculpt those woods. On one hand, my best friend and lifemate was no longer present for the dream and it was easy to make the decision to sell it. But on the other, it was just such a perfect patch of paradise, and I had already put so much into it. I stalled for a year.
And then serendipity did as serendipity does. An inquiry from a former coworker led to a visit from one of his associates. Michael is a young man who looked at the place and saw it through my eyes. He fell in love with the location and his imagination ran wild with the aged cabin, and he began to regale me with what he would do with it. And his vision was uncannily similar to mine, detailing the changes I would have spent my years making if I could have.
It was infinitely easier to let it go to someone who was as smitten as I was, who would preserve its heritage and refine its presence. He will be an able successor to the green we found there. I’m looking forward to a new life for the place I called Sharalane Hollow.
And as my very wise huzzband said to me, “You can have a new dream.” And he was so right. But maybe in my case, I’m revisiting an old dream, because long before I ever found Sharalane Hollow, I had abandoned the dream to go west a lifetime before. And suddenly here I am, in the Mojave Desert and building l’Auberge West at Shangri-LeFey Studios with my perfect partner! Unpacking, creating a new world to live in, sponging up the artmosphere, taking method acting lessons with a pro! Can you believe it?
Don’t ever stop dreaming, my friends. One of my favorite quotes is from A Knight’s Tale: “A man can change his stars.” Believe it!
Khrysso’s Scrumptious Low-Carb Gluten-Free Almond Cookies
Khrysso’s Scumptious Low-Carb Gluten-Free Almond Cookies
These cookies are a bonus for us both because they are low-carb, sugar free, and gluten-free! A Dutch friend of ours inspired this recipe, but we like ours better than the one from the Old Country. The bad part is they taste so good, the non-restricteds eat them all up!
Yield: 24 cookies
Ingredients
2 sticks salted butter, softened
pinch of kosher salt
1 1/3 cups granulated erythritol or other granular 1-to-1 sweetener
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. almond extract
4 cups blanched pulverized almonds (you could use almond flour, but we like the texture achieved by crushing the almonds in the food processor)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Beat the butter, salt, and sweetener until fluffy.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts and blend well.
Add the processed almonds and beat until just blended to a stiff dough.
Divide the dough into 24 balls.
(optional) Roll each ball in crushed almonds.
Flatten balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove and cool before serving.
What a feeling!
So I’m working on a revision of the stage parody we produced 2 years ago, Go On With Your Wind. It was a huge undertaking and a ton of fun, but the show clocked at a good 3+ hours. It needs tightened and trimmed, but I was told by an objective someone whose opinion I value: this show needs to be published. One of the best parts about revision: making it better, funnier, sharper.
So I’m sitting in the studio at l’Auberge working feverishly on my script, and my husband, Khrysso, is sitting in the studio working on a piece of art, and he asks for my opinion and some technical input, and I send him a PDF of my latest draft for editing, and to get his feedback. I’m laughing at my own comedy, and marveling at his colors and his design, and we pause to discuss some plans for giving back to the community.
This is a dream come true. It’s so incredible, this feeling of rightness, of goodness, of well-being. It’s been such a long journey to get to this place that I never imagined existed. There is so much love in this world, safety in this home. Our daughter is chatting with her boyfriend and watching funny videos. Our best friend, Patti, our Mrs. Madrigal, is playing her dulcimer and we all break to watch some Father Brown.
This place has a flood of friends who do not feel the need to judge one another, who practice love without question, who cast the net of grace and charity and service wide. I am so blessed to be here. I don’t know how it happened, I don’t know how this dream came true, I only know I am grateful beyond measure.
So then, the rogue, Thrett Cutlet says to the vixen, Spoilitt O’Hairy, “Why? Maybe it’s because I’ve always had a weakness for hopeless causes, and you’re really hopeless. Or maybe, maybe there’s some other reason that’s been cut from the script. Who knows?”
